JOUKNEYS AND RESEARCHES 



IN 



SOUTH AFRICA. 



INTKODTJCTION. 



My own inclination would lead me to say as little as 

 possible about myself; but several friends, in whose judg- 

 ment I have confidence, have suggested that, as the reader 

 likes to know something about the author, a short account 

 of his origin and early life would lend additional interest 

 to this book. Such is my excuse for the following egotism ; 

 and, if any apology be necessary for giving a genealogy, 1 

 find it in the fact that it is not very long, and contains only 

 one incident of which I have reason to be proud. 



Our great-grandfather fell at the battle of Culloden, 

 fighting for the old line of kings; and our grandfather 

 was a small farmer in Ulva, where my father was born. 

 It is one of that cluster of the Hebrides thus alluded to by 

 Walter Scott :— 



"And Ulva dark, and Colonsay, 

 And all the group of islets gay 

 That guard famed Staffa round."* 



Our grandfather was intimately acquainted with all the 

 traditionary legends which that great writer has since 

 made use of in the "Tales of a Grandfather" and other 

 works. As a boy I remember listening to him with de- 



* Lord of the Isles, canto iv. 



